Creativity Isn’t Secondary: A Whole New Mind

In A Whole New Mind, Daniel Pink’s operating theory is that we are coming upon a new business and economic revolution, and the business world is moving from the Information Age (based upon the “knowledge worker” whose primary skill set is logical, analytical, and data-oriented) to a Conceptual Age – an age of designers, empathizers, of people skilled in building relationships among people and synthesizing details and concepts into a new and original whole.

If this sounds familiar, it should. We at BeTuitive have been saying this since our inception. And we creative types have been saying it for longer than that.

This isn’t to say that the traditional left-brain-oriented skills have become useless and obsolete. They’re still necessary – they’re just no longer enough. Drilling down to the most pertinent data points no longer sets anyone apart; anyone and everyone offers the same thing for a comparable price. In order to differentiate yourself, you need to pull those data points together, be able to see and articulate the big picture and use those data points creatively to develop something new.

So while much of the business world still tends to see the right-brain-oriented creative and “soft” skills as occasionally needed but largely secondary, we are progressing to a point where it just ain’t so anymore. Pink outlines three primary reasons for this:

Abundance. Go to your average mall, or turn on the TV, or open a magazine, and you will see thousands upon thousands of products and services all clamoring for your attention. In the developed world, our basic needs for survival are provided for and then some. So now your average human is going to be looking for what’s next, what’s more, and giving much more significance to less tangible, less utilitarian things.

Asia. The spectre of American high tech workers: outsourcing. In a global economy, the cost of communicating with the other side of the world is approaching zero. And simple, routine tasks, such as the code-crunching side of programming, can be sent to engineers in India and elsewhere, where your staff is quite pleased to command a salary one-fifth of that of their American counterparts.

Automation. Did you know that there is now software that writes software? Software that can make basic medical diagnoses based on decision trees? Anything that can be done by following a set of logical rules, can be done by a computer faster than by a human.

These three factors are not going away anytime soon. As a result, adapting to the new conditions is vital for marketplace survival: We need to supplement our high-tech skills with skills that are “high concept” (the ability to detect patterns and opportunities, to see the big picture, to create beauty, to combine heretofore unrelated ideas into a fresh innovation) and “high touch” (empathy for others, an understanding of human relationships, finding joy and bringing it to others, and the ability to seek out purpose and meaning). Pink offers an outline of six skills or “senses” which will become necessary to develop and incorporate into our skill sets. It is not as difficult as it sounds to you left-brainers. These attributes are fundamental human characteristics; our cave-dwelling ancestors may not have done a lot of data analysis, but they frequently sat around telling stories around the fire. These skills have only atrophied from lack of use, not ceased to exist altogether.

The “six senses:”

Design. Good, functional, utilitarian products are everywhere. You can no longer differentiate yourself based on quality or price – you need to make your product appealing.

Story. We no longer need an expert to get our hands on facts anymore. With Google and ten minutes anyone can find more facts than they can use. What people need now is someone to demonstrate how facts are related, to put them in context and convey them with impact.

Symphony. Specialization and a good grasp of the details is now being outsourced or automated. Need a code cruncher? Send it to Asia. But what we still need, perhaps even more than before, is someone to pull those details together and conceive of a new piece of software, how it might work, what it might do, and more importantly how it would make life better for those who use it.

Empathy. Analytical tools are now commonplace and prolific. But analysis is useless if you don’t understand your client’s problem. A computer can analyze data, follow decision trees, and spit out reams of reports, and still not give someone the answers needed to solve the problem. A human, on the other hand, can grasp which problems are urgently important, can develop interpersonal relationships – can become a trusted resource.

Play. Happy humans are productive humans. Would you rather be managed by someone who jokes and laughs on occasion, or someone who’s invariably dour? Video games have been shown to boost problem-solving ability. Skillfully applied humor can increase morale, decrease hostility, communicate difficult messages, and make for more effective leadership – because people want to follow you.

Meaning. We now live in a world where we have, and have access to, lots and lots and lots of stuff. Our material needs are met, so we move on to big screen TVs. But funnily enough, that TV hasn’t made us significantly happier. So people are seeking out more purpose, more fulfillment, simply more. Today the marketplace, and the workplace, is less about things and functionality, and more about improving quality of life.

Pink offers loads of ideas, examples, exercises, books to read, museums to see – and more – to illustrate this marketplace revolution, and assist you left-brainers in adapting to it. They’re good practice (and good play!) for right-brainers, too. (Given all of this, I found it darkly amusing that the design of the book jacket is so uninspired. How did that slip by? )

I shall try to contain my glee, and my urge to say “I told you so!” but it is nice to be corroborated. Creativity is not “just” a secondary, less-important skill – it’s as vital to the complete whole as logic. We right-brainers are quite pleased to see the rest of the world finally beginning to recognize that.

Guest Blogger, Soon-to-be Regular Blogger

This afternoon's guest blogger will be Kat O'Connor. She'll be reviewing A Whole New Mind, by Daniel Pink, as the latest installment in the BeTuitive book club.

Guest bloggers for book reviews aren't an unusual occurrence here at the BeTuitive blog, but this guest review is special, because it marks the addition of Kat to the regular ranks of post-ers. You'll be seeing her thoughts on the BeTuitive blog on a regular basis (as well as mine.) Kat's a designer, so you can expect many of her posts to skew in that direction.

So everyone give Kat a hale and hearty welcome, and look forward to more frequent posts! Hip-hip-hooray!

As If It Weren't Difficult Enough

Let's face it. Putting together an e-newsletter is a hassle. There's a lot to think about: strategy, content, list management, design, construction, reporting, analysis, and on and on.

We all know the merits of the opt-in system: People expect and want the email from you; presumably, that means they'll recognize it when it hits their in-box. Then they'll open it, interact with it--and voila!--the newsletter has done its job.

So let's saying you're doing everything right, in terms of opt-in. And let's say most of your subscribers are receiving the email at their business address, but a significant portion of your subscribers are getting that email at their personal, Yahoo! or AOL, address.

Then let's say Yahoo! and AOL came up with the idea, in order to curtail the amount of illegitimate email reaching their users, to charge legitimate marketers for sending bulk messages to their users, adding yet another step (and more moolah) to an already complicated process.

You know me. I always try to look on the bright side. So here's the good in this: Well, probably people will get less spam (although it seems unlikely that spam will be Eliminated through this initiative), and then might have more time and attention and patience for your legitimate email.

Authors Connect, People Buy More

Essentially, it's author blogs, the idea behind which is that, when fans feel more connected with authors, they'll buy more books.

Now, I happen to believe reading is a very personal thing. You invest hours into someone's work, and get to know the characters in the book well enough that sometimes you start to believe you know the author. The blog can only extend this feeling. If I read a book I love, and I find the author's blog, and I read it regularly, and that author talks about another book she has coming out, the chances of me buying that book are much higher.

I think this idea can be extended, too. Blogs and newsletters forge personal connections (when they have personal voices in them), and the opt-in recipients start to feel as if, through that voice communicating valuable information, that the voice is (dare I say?) a friend.